LONDON — British Cabinet minister Lucy Powell’s official X account was hacked Tuesday to promote a fake cryptocurrency.
The leader of the House of Commons’ account posted a tweet falsely advertising a “House of Commons Coin ($HCC),” claiming it was “a community-driven digital currency bringing people’s power to the blockchain.
“Transparency. Participation. Trust,” the tweet added.
A separate post said the “official crypto coin” was now live, and shared details to a contact address. Both tweets were subsequently deleted.
A spokesperson for Powell said: “Lucy Powell’s personal X account was hacked this morning. Steps were taken quickly to secure the account and remove misleading posts.”
A spokesperson for the U.K. Parliament said it “takes cyber security extremely seriously. We provide advice to users — including members — to make them aware of the risks and how to manage their digital safety, however we do not comment on specific details of our cyber security policies.”
Powell is not the first political figure to fall victim to hackers promoting crypto. BBC journalist Nick Robinson’s X account was hacked in February and fictionally stated he was launching a cryptocurrency for Radio 4’s Today program, which he co-presents.
Fellow BBC presenter and former political editor Laura Kuenssberg’s X account was also hacked in January as the impersonator promoted BBC “memecoins” as possibly “the next big face of digital finance.”
Mason Boycott-Owen and Esther Webber contributed reporting.
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